Cordless products which use rechargeable batteries are prevalent throughout the workplace as well as in the home. From housewares to power tools, rechargeable batteries are used in numerous devices. Ordinarily, nickel-cadium or nickel-metal-hydride battery cells are used in these devices. Since the devices use a plurality of battery cells, the battery cells are ordinarily packaged as battery packs. These battery packs couple with the cordless devices and secure to the device. The battery pack may be removed from the cordless device and charged in a battery charger or charged in the cordless device itself.
Currently the cells in a battery pack are assembled by holding them in a fixture and welding individual interconnect straps between the contact points of cell pairs. This process involves affixing and restraining each interconnect strap to a single cell pair and resistance welding the strap onto the contact points. After this strap is welded, the process is repeated serially for the next cell. These straps are arranged to produce strings of cells arranged in series and/or parallel configurations. One of the difficulties with this process is that the interconnect straps must be individually affixed and restrained during the welding process. Another deficiency is that the welding process can only be completed for one cell pair at a time.